France prepares for airstrikes against ISIS as it begins reconnaissance missions on terror targets in Syria
- Hollande said reconnaissance would build intelligence on domestic threats
- France has been the subject of several ISIS-connected attacks this year
- Surveillance flights will also allow France to carry out effective airstrikes
- So far France's anti-ISIS involvement has been limited to neighbouring Iraq
- But Hollande ruled out French ground troops being deployed against ISIS
France will begin reconnaissance missions on Islamic State targets in Syria tomorrow afternoon with a view to carrying out air strikes on the terror group, President Francois Hollande revealed today.
With several ISIS-connected terror attacks in France this year alone, Hollande said the surveillance flights are intended to gather information on potential security threats to the country.
He did, however, rule out the possibility of French ground troops being sent into Syria or Iraq, where the depraved jihadis hold vast swathes of land as part of their self-declared Islamic caliphate.
The news comes just one day after it was revealed that Britain's RAF bombers could carry out airstrikes in Syria within weeks in an effort to break the back of ISIS - whose estimated 200,000 fighters have forced hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees to flee for their lives.
Prepared: With several ISIS-connected terror attacks in France this year alone, Hollande today told ministers and reporters (pictured) that surveillance flights will gather information on potential security threats in France
Speaking this morning, Hollande said it was his responsibility to fight against the 'terrorism and war' that has left Europe vulnerable to attack.
Hollande said coping with the flow of refugees also requires addressing the problem of terrorism and the reconnaissance flights will help inform airstrikes against ISIS.
'We have proof that attacks have been planned from Syria against several countries, notably France,' he said.
'Today in Syria what we hope to learn, is what is being planned against us and what is happening to the Syrian population.'
'My responsibility is to ensure that we are informed as much as possible on the threats to our country ... so I have asked the defence minister that from tomorrow reconnaissance flights begin over Syria that will enable us to consider air strikes against Islamic State.'
The United States is carrying out airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, but France, like Britain, has limited its planes to Iraqi airspace until now.
The news comes as Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond agreed that there is a 'strong case' for British intervention in Syria as well as neighbouring Iraq.
With dozens of Tory MPs expected to oppose the plan in a Commons vote next month, Mr Cameron will be forced to rely on the support of Labour MPs willing to defy whoever becomes the party's new leader this weekend.
However, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has signalled she is willing to consider supporting bombing raids as part of a long-term plan to end the bloody conflict in Syria.
Mr Cameron was humiliated in 2013 when Tory rebels joined with Labour to vote down a plan to launch missile strikes against the Assad regime.
It forced the PM into an embarrassing retreat and damaged relations with US President Barack Obama who had to go it alone in sending jets into Syrian airspace.
However, public outrage at the refugee crisis fuelled by the rise of ISIS has put the issue back on the table with senior members of the Cabinet pushing for action.
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